Following an arguably weak year for albums, 2015 has seen a lot of great projects and many unexpected ones as well. While this year we saw the highly anticipated return of Adele, patient fans are still awaiting Frank Ocean’s sophomore album and Kanye West’s Swish. But where Frank and Kanye have left music fans hanging, new comers like Bryson Tiller, Alessia Cara, GoldLink, BOOTS, Halsey and more have put out some great albums to help kick off their relatively young careers. 2015 though was also a great year for some heavyweights, of course we’re referring to artists like Drake, Future, Kendrick Lamar and even pop superstars like One Direction and Justin Bieber. In just one day, November 13th, the music world saw more great releases than it did in a span of months in 2014. Cheers to hoping 2016 delivers as well as 2015 did!
Are music videos a lost art in 2015? With MTV and VH1 airing more reality television programs than actual music videos, it is no surprise that a lot of artists have abandoned the music video route of promotion. Fortunately not all artists subscribe to such logic. Many superstar artists still know that fans crave visuals, even if they are streaming it from their phone or tablet.And a lot of emerging artists know that creating some dope visuals are a great way to gain exposure and put your name on the map. Check out our favorite music videos from this past year and see who got our number one spot.
2015 saw a lot of great concert tours, from J. Cole’s Forest Hills Drive Tour with Big Sean, YG and Jeremih to Taylor Swift’s huge 1989 World Tour. Some tours sold out stadiums and arenas, selling out the entire tour before it even begun, and some tours were in small intimate venues, either strategically or because simple supply and demand. Some had stacked lineups top to bottom and some introduced us to a lot of great new artists. Festivals like Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo and Coachella were bigger than ever this year, but that didn’t stop your favorite artists from building up some great shows of their own.
Hit the jump and check out our list of our 20 Favorite Concert Tours of 2015!
Rihanna took to Twitter minutes ago to make a huge announcement. Along with rumors that Rihanna is releasing a new album, reportedly titled Anti, on Black Friday, at the very least, fans will be happy to hear that the ‘BBHMM’ singer will be hitting the road next year on a huge worldwide tour of the same name! Bringing along Travis Scott for the North American dates and The Weeknd & Big Sean for the Europe dates, tickets for the “ANTI World Tour” go on sale on Thursday, December 3rd. You don’t need us to spell it out for you, this is not a tour that you want to miss!
Check out Rihanna’s announcement below and stay tuned as the official dates and locations are released.
Chicago felt the madness tonight at the United Center. Kicking off the U.S. leg of The Madness Tour, after two sold out nights at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre earlier this week, The Weeknd performed for yet another sold out crowd, this time for the Windy City in the house that Michael Jordan built. He didn’t do it alone though, as the entire lineup was stacked and provided a great deal of variety. Fans who arrived on time were treated to great sets from ‘Beggin for Thread’ singer Banks, as well as G.O.O.D. Music‘s and Grand Hustle’s always energetic, rapper Travis Scott.
While the opening performances only consisted of a few songs each, both Banks and Scott set the tone for the night, both with completely different sounds and moods. Banks performed a handful of records from her latest LP, Goddess, including her big 2014 single, ‘Begin for Thread’. After her beautiful collection of songs, Travis Scott turned up the volume and energy to an entirely different level.
Instantly Scott made sure that everyone in the arena was ready to rage. He may have been playing the largest venue in Chicago, but the energy felt like a club performance. A few hundred feet separated the ‘Antidote’ rapper and the 300 level of the UC, but his energy reached the rafters. Travis choose to perform some of his most turned up records, including his Days Before Rodeo and Owl Pharaoh bangers like ‘Don’t Play’ and ‘Quintana’, and of course his tracks in support of his new and debut LP, Rodeo.
While Scott’s and even Bank’s fans showed up in numbers, the man behind the madness, and whose music is the reason the entire tour sold out even before it began, was set to headline the show. And to open his set, The Weeknd kicked things off with the same record that kicked off his latest LP, ‘Real Life’. After ‘Real Life’ and throughout the night, The Weeknd performed his entire Beauty Behind the Madness album.
Weeknd did not limit things to his latest and most successful album though, performing a number of records from his discography, including a variety of tracks from his critically acclaimed series, The Trilogy. But despite providing ample entertainment for his day one fan base, the crowd was most alive as The Weeknd performed his singles, like ‘The Hills’, ‘Can’t Feel My Face’ and ‘Often’, that have been dominating the airwaves and clubs in the past half year. The tour may have opened up in The Weeknd’s hometown, but it is hard to imagine an energy that could be matched when compared to tonight’s performance at the United Center.
Check out our photos of The Weeknd’s sold out show with Banks and Travis Scott below.
Off his debut album, Rodeo, G.O.O.D. Music and Grand Hustle rapper Travis Scott has released the official music video for the LP’s Kanye West-assisted track, ‘Piss On Your Grave’. Joining Scott for the visuals as well, Kanye and Travis are trading bars in a forest, for a music video that’s perfect for Halloween weekend. Fans will have a few chances to catch Scott live in the next couple months, as he is joining The Weeknd on his forthcoming tour, as well as headlining a tour of his own with Bryson Tiller.
In an age where advanced knowledge of the music scene’s constantly evolving landscape is vital to artistic survival, Travis Scott is poised to lead hip-hop to a new era. A GOOD Music in-house producer, the 23-year-old’s music channels influences such as Kanye West and Kid Cudi into ultra-modern perspectives on life in the Internet era. He began to craft rumblings of greatness on the quintessential Days Before Rodeo mixtape in 2014, but a year later, he now has the opportunity to snatch greatness by its throat with his debut full-length, Rodeo.
Following the release of his forthcoming and highly anticipated album, titled Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd will be hitting the road (with Travis Scott, Haley & Banks) for a big North American tour. Kicking off “The Madness” back home in Toronto, The Weeknd will be hitting a number of stops in November and December, including a date at the United Center in Chicago on Friday, November 6th. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 28th (the day you can buy his new LP) at Live Nation. Catching his amazing headlining performances at Coachella and Lollapalooza this year, this is definitely not a tour to miss!
Check out the tour dates for The Madness Fall Tour below!
Travis Scott got us all counting down the days, when he released his best project to date, with Day Before Rodeo, a prequel of sorts for his debut album, simply titled Rodeo. While we didn’t know just how many days we would have to wait, they are finally winding down as the LP is scheduled to drop in just about a couple weeks (September 4th). And now, to increase that hype, Scott has shared the albums official cover art. Displaying possibly the dopest action figure ever created, La Flame’s Rodeo cover is lit (pun intended of course)!
Today, Young Thug affiliate MPA Duke released his new mixtape Lil Duke. One of the standout tracks on the project is the Travi$ Scott featured cut “On My Vibe”. The two southern artists share bars over the smooth instrumental produced by Scott. The record is assumed to give listeners a taste into the sound of Travi$’ debut album Rodeo (releasing September 4th).
The Early Registration 